WVU Wins NCAA Smallbore Rifle Team Championship

Buoyed by a dominant performance from fifth-year student-athlete and Tokyo 2020 silver medalist Mary Tucker, the West Virginia Mountaineers claimed the smallbore rifle team title on its home turf at the 2024 NCAA rifle championships on Friday, March 8.

The 2024 NCAA rifle championships were a two-day competition conducted at the WVU Coliseum in Morgantown, West Virginia, March 8-9.

West Virginia University’s top shooter at the 2024 NCAA rifle championships was Mary Tucker, who is pictured here walking to the firing line with WVU Head Coach Jon Hammond. Tucker’s aggregate score of 1193-93X (air rifle 597-52X, smallbore 596-41X) led the entire field of shooters at this year’s championship, and she also won the smallbore individual title and finished third in the air rifle final.

WVU won the 2024 NCAA smallbore rifle team title with a score of 2353-145X, six points ahead of the runner-up team, the Texas Christian University Horned Frogs.

Smallbore rifle at the NCAA rifle championships is fired at 50 feet in three positions: kneeling, prone and standing. Each shooter will fire 20 shots in each of the three positions, for a total of 600 possible points. The smallbore rifle competitors are split into two relays. To determine the individual smallbore champion, the top eight individual shooters from both relays advance to a final round.

Tucker led the field of 46 shooters after both smallbore rifle relays were completed, posting a score of 596-41X. The next highest scoring WVU rifle team shooter in smallbore was freshman Griffin Lake with a score of 587-40X. As for Tucker, after advancing to the final she staged an incredible comeback to win the 2024 NCAA smallbore rifle individual title.

In addition to winning the 2024 NCAA smallbore rifle team championship, WVU rifle team shooter Mary Tucker captured the smallbore individual title after a thrilling final, topping the leaderboard with a score of 462.0.

Finishing second on the 2024 NCAA smallbore rifle team championship leaderboard was Texas Christian University with a score of 2347-147X. In third place was Kentucky with 2338-123X.

Each team at the NCAA rifle championship has five shooters firing for record, with the lowest score posted being dropped and the top four scores from each team counting towards the team's total.

The second smallbore rifle relay at the 2024 NCAA rifle championships in Morgantown, W.V., on Friday, March 8. At the NCAA rifle championships, smallbore is shot at 50 feet with 20 shots in each of three positions: kneeling, prone and standing, for a 60-shot total. The top eight shooters advance to the final.

You can view the full scorecard from the 2024 NCAA rifle championships at the NCAA website. Be on the lookout for a full match report in a future issue of the digital magazine. Subscribe for free here.